Category: Resources

40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.

Things I Learned From One Season Writing on a Show

It takes talent, chutzpah, and more networking than just about any writer in the universe is comfortable with to get started as a TV writer. No one owes you a gig no matter how talented you may be.

In spite of the difficulty – well, probably because of it – few new TV writing pros do all that much to help other noobs into the game. (Gotta watch out for “rivals,” don’tcha know?) Which is why our TVWriter™ hats are off to the “Watching Cartoons in Your Underwear” tumblr blog and its proprietress Gina for posts like this:

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Pixar Tells Us All We’ll Ever Need to Become Animation Mayvens

The greatest and most educating series on film and video-making evah!

There’s whole lots more where this sweet and salty goodness comes from. Find out more HERE

Peggy Bechko’s World of the Innocent, the Eager & the Doomed

“My hopes, dreams and aspirations were no match against my poor spelling, punctuation and grammar.” Red Red Rover

Okay writers, is that you? It might be, even if you aren’t aware of it. Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s the STORY that counts, right? read article

LB: At Last! The Real Differences Between Writing Film, TV & the Printed Word

by Larry Brody

One of my favorite blogs is ComicMix, which quite simply is the most more interesting and best written and edited sources of comics industry information on the net. (You may have noticed that TVWriter™ regularly features columns by two of Comic Mix’s glorious writers, John Ostrander and Dennis O’Neil.)

I admire the blog’s entire staff for its varied comic book work and its amazing insight into creativity as a whole. Today’s case in point is the most recent column by CM’s Marc Alan Fishman, one of the creator-partners at indie comics company Unshaven Comics and a force to be conjured with indeed. read article

Dennis O’Neil: Ha Ha Ha

by Dennis O’Neil

Here’s the plan. You’ll wait until the office is closed for the day and the lights are all out and then, possibly wearing a tool belt, you’ll sneak inside and remove the appliance from its place near the big chair and take it home and put it on the couch and sit next to it. Then you’ll tune in NBC’s new comedy, Powerless. (Did I mention that this will be on Thursday night?)

You’ll turn on the laughing gas machine, the one that belongs to your dentist and place the mask over your nose and mouth. This is necessary, according to you, because you might not find the show funny and yet it’s supposed to make you laugh and if it doesn’t you’ll feel frustrated and to avoid this ugly feeling you can sniff the laughing gas and have yourself a good chuckle and maybe a gas-induced laugh is better than none at all. read article